History Main / BringNewsBack

* Terasaka Kichiemon- the only survivor of UsefulNotes/The47Ronin- was told to bring word of their successful raid to Ako. After the other 46 committed suicide he alone was pardoned by the emperor. When he died at the very old age of 87 he was buried with the others.

%%* The climax of the ''Film/{{Gallipoli}}''.%%ZCE

->''"They're wearing steel that's fine and true''\\
''They carry news that must get through."''

[[folder:Anime and Manga ]]

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' - AntiHero Chou [[spoiler: lies to Kamatari]] that this is the latter's duty as to prevent any further suicide attempts.
* ''Anime/SoundOfTheSky'' - Someone has to warn two armies the war is over before they start a new one. Even if it takes cutting a path through your GeneralRipper forces.
* ''The Final Flight of the Osiris'' is entirely this trope. This finale to ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' records the last minutes of the crew of the hovership Osiris after they discover the machines' plan to destroy Zion. While the rest of the crew fights for their lives and for every second they can spare, Jue enters the Matrix and races to a deaddrop with the information.

[[folder:Comic Books ]]

* Dilios in ''Film/ThreeHundred'' is ordered to return to Sparta to report what happened, using the story of Leonidas' sacrifice to rally the Greeks to stand against the Persians.
* The comic-book-within-the-comic-book "The Black Freighter" in ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'' depicts a man going to horrific lengths to get back to his town in time to warn them about the approach of the titular pirate ship and the death and violence it will bring.
** [[HeWhoFightsMonsters By the time he gets home, it's too late]].
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' villain Digger does this with two mooks who work for his/their arch-enemy. The other one was thrown out of window to deliver the message. The other would be the message.

* ''Blog/BetterBonesAU'': During the Great Battle, after regrouping from their second attack, Tigerstar announces that [[LastVillainStand if they can't win they will hurt the Clans as much as possible]], even killing noncombatants like kits and elders. In order to warn [=ThunderClan=], Lizardtail of [=RiverClan=], one of the Dark Forest trainees who has now turned against his allies, makes a daring journey, swimming across the lake and racing the rest of the way. He is rewarded with the [[MeaningfulRename honor title]] of Hallowflight.
* In ''FanFic/TheManWithNoName'', Zeke tells the crew that a village they'd saved from some Reavers [[ApocalypticLog has been wiped out by an army of them, before dying himself]].

'''Archer:''' ''(aiming)'' One.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheThiefAndTheCobbler'': [[AlmostDeadGuy the sole survivor of a massacre]] rides for miles with a volley of arrows on his back and arrives at the palace, living just long enough to say the name of the BigBad. "One... Eye ... is coming!"

* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'': After learning the [[GoneHorriblyWrong horrible truth]] about what happened on Miranda, Mal and the crew of the title ship set out to reach the only means of sending/spreading the [[ApocalypticLog report on what happened]]. It's a variant on this in that the only "authority figures" around had the report buried, since they were responsible for the whole thing, but Mal is determined to get the message out in order to speak for the people who died there and strike a serious blow against the Alliance.
* ''Film/StarTrekInsurrection''. Dougherty actually dares Picard to send word to Starfleet; "by the time you do, this will all be done." Picard sends the ship anyway, but sticks around with an away team to stop Dougherty's plan. Something of a subversion, since the action was legally sanctioned and Picard was trying to get them to reconsider.
* ''Film/{{Gallipoli}}''. The climax of the film.

--> '''Snowden:''': I appreciate your concern for my safety, but I already know how this will end for me, and I accept the risks....I ask only that you ensure this information makes it home to the American public.
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'', Aragorn is separated from the Rohirrim on the way to Helm's Deep, and is presumed dead. On his weary way back he encounters Saruman's Uruk-Hai army, and must quickly ride to Helm's Deep and warn them of just how large the opposing force actually is.
* Just before the climax of ''Film/ThreeHundred'', Leonidas sends Dilios back to Sparta in order to tell the tale of the Spartans' mighty feats, as Leonidas knows that he and what's left of his army are facing a a hopeless LastStand against the Persians. Partly to obviously report on what happened, partly to rouse the ''thousands'' of other lifelong Spartan soldiers into battle.

* A common theme in stories based on TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}; a soldier's second most important job, after fighting the enemy, is to let those in charge know where the enemy is.
** In Creator/SandyMitchell's Literature/CiaphasCain novel ''For the Emperor'', when they discover the underground [[spoiler:genestealers]], Vail has them head back. Even after the [[spoiler:apparent loss of all their companions]], Cain[[note]]HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!![[/note]] and Vail plug on.
*** In ''The Last Ditch'', Cain overrules a commissar who would rather die fighting [[spoiler:tyranids]] than let anyone know it wasn't (just) orks out there.
---> '''Forres''': Nevertheless, our duty demands…\\
'''Cain''': Our duty demands we live to report this, so we can mount an effective defence and save this planet for the Emperor.
** In William King's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''Literature/SpaceWolf'', when they discover [[spoiler:Chaos Space Marines]], Sergeant Hengist sends Ragnar back, with some companions, to bring the news, and rallies the rest for YouShallNotPass to buy them time. When one of them is injured, Ragnar sends the others on, to bring the news, while [[NoOneGetsLeftBehind he tends the wounded one]].
*** In ''Grey Hunters'', Ragnar finds some soldiers and by spying, he learns they are loyalists who are trying to discover who had landed and, if they were loyal, bring them word of where the Chaos forces are concentrated.
** In Creator/JamesSwallow's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''The Flight of the Eisenstein'', Garro learns of Horus's treachery, first on Tarvitz's [[IGaveMyWord word]], then by seeing the weapons being armed on his own ship, then when an order to attack their own men is intercepted. He demands all his men and the officers of the ship [[ThePromise swear an oath of moment]] to get the word back to Terra, and they set out to do so.
** In Gav Thorpe's Warhammer 40000 short story "Renegades" Rykhel attempts this, to bring back news of his company's treachery and murders (the story ends with his traveling off into danger).
** In ''Legion of the Damned'' the first part of the Space Marines' plan is to make make a LastStand defending the only city on a cemetery world. They hope to inflict so much damage on the invading Chaos Blood Crusade that it will move on after killing the defenders and thus does not find where the women and children are hiding. The second part requires that once most of the defenders are dead at least one of the survivors fights his way out of the city and is thus able to tell any arriving Imperial forces where the women and children are.
* "Passage To Dilfar", a short story in ''Literature/DilvishTheDamned'' by Creator/RogerZelazny. The whole story is the attempt to bring the news back.
* In ''The Shiva Option'', the 4th ''Literature/{{Starfire}}'' book by Creator/DavidWeber and Steve White, an Alliance survey fleet finds a "back way" (an unusual [[OurWormholesAreDifferent warp point]] detectable from only one side) into one of the Bug home systems. It's a vastly easier avenue of attack than the direct route- but the fleet is already deep in enemy territory and cut off from retreat. In the end, it takes the HeroicSacrifice of all the fleet's fighting vessels to get the survey ships home with the news.
** The previous book, ''In Death Ground'', similarly has a Terran fleet stumble upon a back door into one of the ''humans''' home systems, which the Bugs could use to pounce on humanity at any time. They have to get back and warn Terran H.Q., but they can't use the back door to get there and have to go around the long way.
* Creator/CSLewis' ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'', part of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''. Near the end of the book Shasta must run a long distance to warn King Lune of the invading Calormen army.
* An immortal postman in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/GoingPostal'' failed at this once, causing the destruction of civilization. He's hoping time is cyclical so that he'll get another chance to deliver the message in time.
* Used a little differently in Creator/JRRTolkien's universe. In an extended account of the Battle of Gladden Fields in ''Literature/{{Unfinished Tales|of Numenor and Middle Earth}}'', two men are sent back to Rivendell with the shards of Narsil alongside news that Isildur, his sons, and their whole army perished.
* In T. H. White's ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' Myth/KingArthur sends off [[Literature/LeMorteDArthur Sir Thomas Malory]] before the final battle, so he can [[FamedInStory tell his story]].
* In ''[[Literature/SienkiewiczTrilogy With Fire and Sword]]'', two of the main characters go on a suicide mission to bring news back of the LastStand their army is facing and to summon [[TheCavalry reinforcements]].
* This is pretty much the main plot in the first book of ''[[Literature/TheRiftwarCycle The Serpentwar Saga]]''. Erik and Roo ended up in the death cell and sentenced to hang. [[spoiler:They were spared with a few others after a fake hanging to serve in Calis's band of desperate men.]]
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian story "Literature/AWitchShallBeBorn", once Ivga has told Valerius which way Salome took Taramis, he sends her off to tell the news that the true queen has been found.
** In "Literature/BeyondTheBlackRiver", Conan and Balthus must get back the news of the impending Pict attack.
* The last chapter of Creator/LarryNiven's novel ''Literature/{{Protector}}'' reveals that the entire book has been one big case of Bringing News Back, telling of the human protector's war against the oncoming Pak warfleet, and giving advice on what to do should they (the human protectors) fail.

* In the first book of Taylor Anderson's ''Literature/{{Destroyermen}}'' series, Into The Storm, Benjamin Mallory, Bristar, and Ed Palmer quickly patch a desereted PBY and flies away from the destroyer USS Mahan to deliver news of what happened to Captain Reddy of USS Walker.
* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''Literature/OrdealInOtherwhere'', when Shann is captured by the Company men, Charis steals a copter to get news to Thorvald and the Wyverns. She feels quite guilty about it.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', after [[spoiler: deciding to let the villain invade his castle and get the eponymous dragon bones, and then "rescue" it, as suggested by the villain]], Ward has to get home in time to tell his uncle that castle Hurog needs to be evacuated.
* In Creator/JohnMilton's ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', Abdiel leaves Satan's legions and hurries to Heaven to bring back news of the revolt. On arrival, he finds out that they are already preparing for war, but they pause to give him a hero's welcome for his escape.
* ''The Measure of a Man'' by Creator/RandallGarrett. The SoleSurvivor of a damaged starship has to warn of an alien attack, but only has a single lifepod remaining (the aliens [[SinkTheLifeboats destroyed all the others]]) that was under repair and without radiation shielding installed. Eventually he [[ColdEquation does the math]] and works out that if he can pilot the damaged starship most of the way, he'll hopefully still be alive by the time the lifepod gets back to Earth.
* This makes up a large part of ''[[Literature/{{Lensman}} Galactic Patrol]]''. SpacePirates piloting vessels of greater speed and power than anything the Patrol have are running amok, so the Patrol sends out their most advanced vessel to capture one, tear it apart for its secrets, then bring the information gained back to Earth through an approaching fleet of other pirates. So the information is copied onto tapes and the crew take to the {{lifepod}}s, while rigging up a system to send their ship on a randomly programmed evasive course.

[[folder:Live-Action TV ]]

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': After escaping Melshi decides that he's going to make sure the truth of what's happening on Narkina-5 is spread to the Galaxy.
* An episode of ''Series/BabylonFive'' subverted this when they had to sacrifice a ship to give the Shadows the impression that this is what was happening. The reality was that the information they were carrying was engineered to lure them into a trap.
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the ArcWords "Bad Wolf" were a message carried across dimensions by the companion Rose to warn The Doctor of the impending doom to the fabric of the universe. To produce the StableTimeLoop -- they had just learned that it was significant information.
** In ''[[Recap/DoctorWhoS3E10TheWarMachines The War Machines]]'', Ben escapes WOTAN's slaves, despite the danger, and hurries to the Doctor to give the news -- horrifying the Doctor and the man with him with his appearance.
* In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode "2010", [=SG1=] gets back together and form an elaborate plot to send a message through the Stargate back to 2000/1 to warn against meeting a dangerous alien race. They all try to make it to the Stargate with individual notes, but everyone except Carter is killed before they can make it; she just barely manages to get the note through the gate before being killed.

* Creator/RobertBrowning's poem [[http://www.bartleby.com/42/659.html ''How They Brought the Good News From Ghent to Aix'']]. In which we never learn the details of "the news which alone could save Aix from her fate".
** Parodied by Sellar and Yeatman (''1066 And All That'') in [[http://incandescens.livejournal.com/755544.html ''How I Brought the Good News From Aix to Ghent, or Vice Versa'']], in which the narrator himself suddenly realises he's forgotten what the news was, returns to Aix, "and eventually sent a telegram."

* ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}} 5'' has you periodically bring back news of the fugitive you're pursuing across the frontier. In a subversion, [[spoiler:the person you're reporting to turns out to be TheMole for that fugitive.]]
* Alyx Vance in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' carries a packet with plot-critical super-secret stolen data through a long sequence of hostile environments to where it can turn the tide of battle. Due to the bad quality of the radio communications, they can't simply transmit the data, despite sometimes establishing video communication (one can surmise it was analog, or that the Combine jammed the transmissions).
* In ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'', the player's ship travels through seven star sectors whilst being chased by a huge rebel fleet, in order to inform the Federation of the Rebel Flagship, whose destruction would leave the rest of the rebellion vulnerable.
* The worst ending of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' culminates with one character left alive to escape and tell what the party has learned to the rest of the galaxy.
* A single Burmecian soldier arrives to inform King Cid of the attack on Burmecia in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Combines with Determinator and AlmostDeadGuy, since he crossed essentially the length of a continent, with the only passageway between Burmecia and his destination taken over by the enemy, and he died immediately after delivering the news.
* A similar situation as above happens at the beginning of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. Vaan's older brother Reks was present when King Raminas was assassinated, supposedly at the hands of Basch. Reks was stabbed in the gut during the incident but lived long enough to testify his version of events before succumbing to his injuries some time latter.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'',

* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000622c Protoman tells Roll to go with the news of the Yellow Demon's attack.]]

* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', when the Battle of the Rivers turns out badly for [[TheMagocracy Alent's]] Western Army thanks to the [[LegionOfDoom Coalition's]] surprise attack, the commander orders one of his soldiers to flee to Alent to warn the Council of Mages about an impending Coalition invasion while the rest of the soldiers try to hold back the overwhelming Coalition army.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' season finale "The Savage Time", the League learns that Vandal Savage is leading the Nazis to invade the United States. As they lack any means of radioing this information, the Flash runs across the Atlantic to warn the US.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

* Terasaka Kichiemon the only survivor of UsefulNotes/The47Ronin was told to bring word of their successful raid to Ako. After the other 46 committed suicide he alone was pardoned by the emperor. When he died at the very old age of 87 he was buried with the others.

* In T. H. White's ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' Myth/KingArthur sends off Sir Creator/ThomasMalory before the final battle, so he can [[FamedInStory tell his story]].

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

->''"They're wearing steel that's fine and true''
->''They carry news that must get through."''

** [[HeWhoFightsMonsters By the time he gets home, it's too late]]
* ''Franchise/{{Spider Man}}'' villain Digger does this with two mooks who work for his/their arch-enemy. The other one was thrown out of window to deliver the message. The other would be the message.

* Similar to what happened in the ''Film/{{Serenity}}'' film, in ''FanFic/TheManWithNoName'' Zeke, the leader of a town the crew [[spoiler:had saved from a few Reavers sends them [[ApocalypticLog a message that the village has been wiped out by an army of them before dying himself]]. The crew is not happy, especially since they knew the Reavers were under someone's control]].

-->'''Shan Yu:''' How many men does it take to deliver a message?
-->'''Archer:''' (aiming) One.

* ''Film/{{Serenity}}'': After learning the [[GoneHorriblyWrong horrible truth]] about what happened on Miranda, Mal and the crew of the title ship set out to reach the only means of sending/spreading the [[ApocalypticLog report on what happened]]. It's something of a variant on this in that the only "authority figures" around, the Alliance, had the report buried, since they were responsible for the whole thing, but Mal is determined to get the message out in order to speak for the people who died there, and to strike a serious blow against the Alliance.

* In ''Film/{{Citizenfour}}'', Edward Snowden reveals information about illegal surveillance to journalists so they can expose such actions to the world, even though he knows what it will do to him.
--> '''Snowden (message)''': I appreciate your concern for my safety, but I already know how this will end for me, and I accept the risks....I ask only that you ensure this information makes it home to the American public.

*** In ''The Last Ditch'', Cain overrules another commissar who would rather die fighting [[spoiler:tyranids]] than let anyone know it wasn't (just) orks out there.
---> '''Forres''': Nevertheless, our duty demands ...
---> '''Cain''': Our duty demands we live to report this, so we can mount an effective defence and save this planet for the Emperor.

* Alyx Vance in the ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' episodes carries a data packet with plot-critical super-secret stolen data through a long sequence of hostile environments to where it can turn the tide of battle. Due to the bad quality of the radio communications, they can't simply transmit the data, despite sometimes establishing video communication (one can surmise it was analog, or that the Combine jammed the transmissions).

* Subverted in a way by [[HeroKiller General Grievous]] in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''. His first public appearance was during the Battle of Hypori, at which he single-handedly defeated a team of ''seven'' Jedi, killing four of them and definitely about to kill the other three had an ARC team not intervened and held him off. In fact, he had been active since the Battle of Geonosis, four months prior - he simply never left any Republic forces alive to tell of his existence.

* Alyx Vance in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' Episode One and Two carries a data packet, in the form of a small electronic device on her belt, with plot-critical super-secret stolen data. Carrying it through a long sequence of hostile environments to where it can turn the tide of battle. Due to the bad quality of the radio communications, they can't simply transmit the data, despite sometimes establishing video communication (one can surmise it was analog).
** It's implied to be the Combine intentionally jamming rebel communications.
* In ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'', the player's ship travels through seven star sectors whilst being chased by a huge rebel fleet, in order to warn the Federation of the huge Rebel fleet. Actually, the player knows of a vulnerability in the rebel flagship and wants to let the surviving Federation ships know.

* An immortal postman in Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Discworld/GoingPostal'' failed at this once, causing the destruction of civilization. He's hoping time is cyclical so that he'll get another chance to deliver the message in time.

* In the ''Roleplay/GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse'', the mutant known as "Broadcast", a member of the Xhosa tribe of South Africa, used his power to turn everything he saw or heard into radio waves to get the truth about the Apartheid government's slaughter of black metahumans out to the rest of the world. In the end, he was caught, tortured, and murdered by a band of government-sponsored white supremacist "superheroes"... but [[CantStopTheSignal even as he died he was broadcasting their treatment of him to the rest of the planet]]. The Apartheid government didn't survive much longer after that...

* In ''Film/TheTwoTowers'', Aragorn is separated from the Rohirrim on the way to Helm's Deep, and is presumed dead. On his weary way back he encounters Saruman's Uruk-Hai army, and must quickly ride to Helm's Deep and warn them of just how large the opposing force actually is.

* ''Disney/{{Mulan}}'': Shan Yu lets two captured soldiers go just so they can deliver the message of his coming to the Emperor. And just to show how cruel he is...

* In ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'', the player's ship travels through seven star sectors whilst being chased by a huge rebel fleet, in order to warn the Federation of the huge Rebel fleet.

* Just before the climax of ''Film/{{300}}'', Leonidas sends Dilios back to Sparta in order to tell the tale of the Spartans' mighty feats, as Leonidas knows that he and what's left of his army are facing a a hopeless LastStand against the Persians. Partly to obviously report on what happened, partly to rouse the ''thousands'' of other lifelong Spartan soldiers into battle.

* In ''[[SienkiewiczTrilogy With Fire and Sword]]'', two of the main characters go on a suicide mission to bring news back of the LastStand their army is facing and to summon [[TheCavalry reinforcements]].

* Terasaka Kichiemon the only survivor of ''TheFortySevenRonin'' was told to bring word of their successful raid to Ako. After the other 46 committed suicide he alone was pardoned by the emperor. When he died at the very old age of 87 he was buried with the others.